Minneapolis woman gets year in jail for prostituting teens

A Minneapolis woman will spend a year in jail after admitting to promoting two teenage runaways for sex through the website Backpage.com.

Meranda Warborg, 30, was sentenced last week to a year in the Hennepin County workhouse for a single count of soliciting prostitution. She was banned from using the website, according to the Hennepin County attorney’s office. She faces more than seven years in prison if she violates any of the conditions of her sentencing over the next five years. Three other counts, including first-degree sex trafficking, were dropped as part of her plea deal.

The teenage girls, ages 15 and 17, ran away from their Eau Claire, Wis., homes last summer to the Twin Cities, where they met 39-year-old Broderick Robinson. Robinson brought the girls provocative clothing, took photos and posted the ads on Backpage.com. He took the teens to hotels and homes to have sex with men.

The girls eventually left Robinson and were dropped off at Warborg’s north Minneapolis home. There, she continued promoting the Backpage ads. Warborg admitted receiving some of the money from the prostitution and giving the teens with drugs.